WEST VIRGINIA CODE

(1) "Acknowledgment" means a declaration by an individual
before a notarial officer that the individual has signed a record
for the purpose stated in the record and, if the record is signed
in a representative capacity, that the individual signed the record
with proper authority and signed it as the act of the individual or
entity identified in the record.

(3) "Electronic signature" means an electronic symbol, sound
or process attached to or logically associated with a record and
executed or adopted by an individual with the intent to sign the
record.

(4) "In a representative capacity" means acting as:

(A) An authorized officer, agent, partner, trustee or other
representative for a person other than an individual;

(B) A public officer, personal representative, guardian or
other representative, in the capacity stated in a record;

(C) An agent or attorney-in-fact for a principal; or

(D) An authorized representative of another in any other
capacity.

(5) "Notarial act" means an act, whether performed with respect to a tangible or electronic record, that a notarial officer
may perform under the law of this state. The term includes taking
an acknowledgment, administering an oath or affirmation, taking a
verification on oath or affirmation, witnessing or attesting a
signature, certifying or attesting a copy, and noting a protest of
a negotiable instrument.

(6) "Notarial officer" means a notary public or other
individual authorized to perform a notarial act.

(7) "Notary public" means an individual commissioned to
perform a notarial act by the West Virginia Secretary of State.

(8) "Official stamp" means a physical image affixed to or
embossed on a tangible record or an electronic image attached to or
logically associated with an electronic record.

(10) "Record" means information that is inscribed on a
tangible medium or that is stored in an electronic or other medium
and is retrievable in perceivable form.

(11) "Sign" means, with present intent to authenticate or
adopt a record:

(A) To execute or adopt a tangible symbol; or

(B) To attach to or logically associate with the record an
electronic symbol, sound or process.

(12) "Signature" means a tangible symbol or an electronic
signature that evidences the signing of a record.

(13) "Stamping device" means:

(A) A physical device capable of affixing to or embossing on
a tangible record an official stamp; or

(B) An electronic device or process capable of attaching to or
logically associating with an electronic record an official stamp.

(14) "State" means a state of the United States, the District
of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the United States Virgin Islands or any
territory or insular possession subject to the jurisdiction of the
United States.

(15) "Verification on oath or affirmation" means a
declaration, made by an individual on oath or affirmation before a
notarial officer, that a statement in a record is true.

Note: WV Code updated with legislation passed through the 2016 Regular Session
The West Virginia Code Online is an unofficial copy of the annotated WV Code, provided as a convenience. It has NOT been edited for publication, and is not in any way official or authoritative.